Apparatus for feeding sheet materials



y- 1953 J. w. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SHEET MATERIALS Filed Aug. 5, 1950 mm QM, mm I Patented May 5, 1953 APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SHEET MATERIALS Joseph W. Young, Sutton, Mass, assignor to The Felters Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 3, 1950, Serial No. 177,391

4. Claims.

This invention relates to improved feeding apparatus for feeding a continuous web of sheet material wherein it may be desired, for example, to arrange the sheet material in folds to be passed between a series of rolls which squeeze the folds of material together.

In some continuous web handling operations as, for example, in the processing of certain felted materials, and other textile materials, it may be desirable to eliminate the use of aprons or carrier sheets to support and advance a folded web of material between one or more pairs of nip or squeeze rolls, both for the reason that the expense of the carrier aprons is avoided and for the further reason that the treatment of the web with fluids may be facilitated, if the aprons are not interposed between the pleated material and the squeeze rolls. Ordinarily if aprons are not employed and a pleated material folded upon itself in stepped relationship is passed through nip rolls, the stepped folds tend to stick or adhere to the peripheral surfaces of one or more of the nip rolls and the material becomes jammed or the pleated arrangement otherwise upset.

The present invention deals with the problem indicated and aims to provide an apparatus for feeding sheet material in folds between nip rolls without utilizing carrier aprons. It is also an object of the invention to provide a simple, ef-

ficient, and easily operated feeding apparatus for arranging and advancing pleated material between nip rolls. Still another object of the invention is to devise a novel means of arranging folds of sheet material occurring in the form of a continuous web whereby each of the folds is substantially enclosed within adjacent folds in a position such that it will resist adhering to either of the two opposed roll surfaces.

These and other objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have illustrated therein one desirable form of apparatus for carrying out the invention wherein a continuous web of sheet material, generally denoted by the letter M, is furnished from a roll which is mounted for rotation with a horizontal shaft l2. The roll I0 may be mounted to rotate freely in response to tension exerted on the material M or the roll may be geared to provide a positive power driven feed with suitable controls of well known character being utilized to vary the peed of rotation of the roll.

Numeral I 4 indicates a folding device which preferably comprises a chute pivotally mounted on the same shaft l2 with roll l0 and constructed and arranged to provide an open upper end into which the sheet material M may pass as it leaves the roll periphery.

The chute is more clearly shown in Fig. 2 and may, in one suitable form, be provided with an eccentric driving mechanism consisting of a rotatably driven disk 16 and a link it connected to one side of the chute to produce oscillatory movement of the latter member in the manner customary in eccentric devices of this nature.

In accordance with the invention I further combine with the folder chute M, and furnishing roll, a series of oppositely rotating rolls which are located at points below the chute in a position to receive and support the sheet material as it leaves the lower end of the chute. These rolls may include, for example, two rolls 20 and 22 mounted to rotate in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 1, and two additional rolls 2t and 26 mounted for rotation in a counter-clockwise direction, as shown in said figure.

The rolls 22 and 24 are spaced apart from one another a predetermined distance suitable for forming a guideway 26 and selected with reference to the thickness of the folded material which is to pass therebetween. Immediately below the rolls 22 and 24 is provided a conveyor belt 30 which may be driven by rollers 32, as shown in Fig. 1. The conveyor belt leads to a set of nip or squeeze rolls 34, 36, 38 and 40.

In making use of the apparatus described, the folder chute is caused to oscillate at a definite rate and material is then gravity fed from roll Iil through the chute and out of the lower end of this member to become folded in layers which are superimposed one above another, as has been diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1.

The swing of the folder chute may be selected of an amplitude such that each layer will extend across and above all four of the rolls 2@, 22, 24 and 26, as illustrated, with the rolls 22, 24 and 26 rotating as explained above. The bottom layer of folding material will be acted upon in such a way that outermost portions of the layer will be moved toward one another, as represented by the position f layer in and to a lesser extent by 2121c position of the immediately overlying layer rearranged above the pieat It will be apparent that the guideway 26 affords a passageway into which the doubled over portions of the layers may pass as these portions move by gravity in a downward direction. It will also be apparent that, by a suitable choice of guideway spacing, succeeding layers will be so foldedthat they willbe caused to fit into one another in'a nested relationship, which is better illustrated in that section of the folded material passing out of the guideway 26. By varying the width of the guideway the extentto-whichnesting takes place may be controlled to a considerable extent to thus provide an appreciable range of folding or pleating.

The nested material as itleaves' thdguideway 26 is received on the conveyor belt 38 and carried thereby to the squeeze rolls as suggested at the left-hand side of Fig. 1. An important feature of the invention is the passage of the nested material through the rolls where the nested arrangement operates to present to the peripheral surfaces ofthe-squeeze rollsor nip rolls, a -seri es of overlapping :sides, "each of which sides is par tially buried in the nextsuc'ceeding fold so th'at there is no opportunity for-anyone oi t'hB'JSldES to adhere to, or to be sucked around, a roll periphery and develop interference or jamming. On' the contrary, each: layer engages against, draws with it, -immediateiy suceee'ding layers.

testing:

ment. I ii uid I as, 1 for example, Ire;

in Fig. 1. When tl risi'treai. I bine'd' with. thersqueeze roll that a much faster and-n the treating liquid through the folded may be realizedthanwouid be i tective aprons ere employed.

The speed. or travei of the sheet mater al through the chute-gover 's'theioad or num of deliveredir the 11 the feeding device. Forenam-pie,'a of material. minute throu' deliver one yar perminute-in condition. This: ratio can-vary or down vithin the limits permitting trevel ofthe treated-mass through guideway- 2 6 without clogging.

The travel speed of thedelivered treated mass should preferably be synchronized -through -a subsequent set of rolls threugh whichthe-mass might need to'pass. Thelength of "thethrowor swing given by the holder-arm has no: relation-to the amount of sheet material delivered, butit does govern the length. of the pleat. inane iii-ustrative example cf'the invention'there has been employed a'throw or swinghav-ing a travel of about thirty "inches. Other dinciensions,- however,

may be employed in accordance with the conditions to be satisfied.

The apparatus has been exemplified in the drawings as folding a single continuous web. However, it should be understood that a plurality of webs may be desired to be folded and fed in the sam general manner described, for i example, in formingfelted materials, as in a-multi-roller hat-making machine, or in various other macl-iines for impregnating, scouring, dyeing, and the like, oifibrous-sheet materials. It is also intended that the folding mechanism comprised by the oscillating chute may be varied, for example, by having. "a reciprocating chute member which travels 'aeross a-s'eries of folding rolls, rather than swingingabout an axis.

Theseand-various other changes and modifi cations may be resorted to in keeping with the invention as defined by the appended claims,

Having thus described my invention, what I desire 'to claim as-new is l. An apparatus for feeding sheet material, comprising mean for -i'urnishing a continuous b of the-sheet .materia-lgmeans forreversely the material upon itself coforni a series of superimposed layers, oppositelyrotating rolls located 1381"?! he chute inzapositien to receive the layers 2 .c n and cause outermost portions of each bottom iayer'tomov-e towardone another into doubled over relationship, saidrolls being spaced-apart to ln ovid-ea :gui-deway into which successive doutfiedv over iayers. of material are advanced in nested-relationship to one another, rwrrz'iliil m'eansior receiving'the'neste'dlayers as they ieavethe' guidewa'y, anwaplurality of-nip roils arranged to engage oppositeside's of the nested material during movement thereof.

2. A deviceasdescrib'edin G1ai1n:'l,-in"WhiC'h the means for rev erseiyieiding the' materialcomprises a travelling folder-chute.

3. A device 'ESQESCITDSQill-01211111 2, inwhich the folder chute pivotaliy mounted to swing about a horizontal-axis.

A device-according to claim 2, i-n-wliich-the means for furnishingthe sheet materialconsists of a roll of such material and-the felder-chuteis provided with an open upper'end constructed and arranged to receive material as it leaves the roll periphery and to guide themateriai-alenga vertically downward path.

References Cite'din thefile of'thisjpatent UNITED STATES'PATENTS 

